The 2007 season has not really augured well for Indian athletes, though most of them were competing with an eye on a berth for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.After the Doha Asian Games, the performance graph of top athletes had continued to dip, and many were not able to achieve the qualification marks for the Beijing Olympics.The AFI’s best bet, the women’s 4x400m relay squad, have also not made the mark. What adds to that worry is the fact that going by results, there is a lack of talented backup in most events. The top athletes are far ahead than the rest of the pack.The top three athlete of the country now - women long jump Anju Bobby George, triple jumper Renjith Maheswary and discus thrower Vikas Gowda - have booked their berth for Beijing, but their performance has been erratic. And they fell far below their personal best in most of the competitions they participated in.After enjoying a good season on home soil and breaking a long-standing record, Maheswary did not live up to expectations when it came to the international meet in Osaka. He failed to repeat his record-breaking performance of 17.04m.Similar had been the case with US-based Gowda. He too failed to come near his personal best of 64.96m, a national record set early this year.Another top athlete KM Binu has slipped. In 400m, his best this season has been 46.94sec. Sarish Paul, whose best has been 46.77, has done better than his more illustrious counterpart..By Indian standards, it is heartening to see that country’s top eight runners in the men’s 10,000m have clocked below 30 minutes in 2007. Surender Kumar Singh has clocked the best time of 28:57.90. But it is nearly three minutes slower then the best at the international level. Hurdler Joseph Abraham had a good season, clocking 49.51 in Osaka world championships, a national record.In women’s discus throw, heptathlon and 400m - the AFI’s choices for the Olympics - top athletes need to dig deep into their reserve to showcase their talent.Once considered to be AFI’s blue-eyed girl - Manjeet Kaur, in 400m, is performing way below expectations. Her best in 2007 was 53.65, which is far below her personal best of 51.05. The best among them now is Chitra K Soman with a time of 53.01.In women’s discus, Krishna Poonia’s performance in the year-ending Open Nationals in Jamshedpur was as lowly as 52.34m. Her best this season was 58.80m.Surprisingly, middle distance runner Pinki Pramanik is leading the 100m runners in India — her best being 11.75 seconds.
